You Actually Got Me to Care About You
by LittleXMissXPerfect
Summary: One shot. After the disastrous date with Bernard, Roxanne tries to process her feelings for Megamind. Ever so slightly AU.


**A/N: So, I wondered about what happened after Roxanne dumped Megamind, so I started writing :) This one shot is ever so slightly AU.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Megamind**

Roxanne hugged her arms closer to her chest, as if for protection. _To protect what? Her heart?_ Too late for that. Megamind walked away from her – she could just make out his silhouette in the distance. She felt sick to the core as she watched him leave. Her heart felt naked, stripped and bleeding, and terrible shame ate away at her as she realised what had happened.

She had fallen in love with Megamind. _Megamind! Why?_

She turned away from him, legs numb as she began the long walk home from the restaurant where they had eaten dinner.

What had happened? What had he done to her?

She'd thought he'd been the only normal thing in her crazy, upside down world. She'd thought he'd been her sanity.

She'd thought he cared.

As it was, Bernard was nothing more than fantasy. And she was left broken-hearted. She berated herself for not having seen it.

Burning anger settled in her chest. How could he do this? The worst part was that for all the fury she felt against him, for all she wished she'd never met him, she wanted nothing more than for him to be with her at that moment. Roxanne thought of the funny, flamboyant man she'd come to care for so deeply – the sweetness, the timidity he'd shown her. And the way every time they said goodbye, she'd count down the minutes until she could see him again.

Oh, yes, she cared about him. And Roxanne hated herself for it. Angrily, she brushed away the hot tears coursing down her cheeks with the back of her hand. The rain pounded on the pavement, clinging to her hair, her dress. Roxanne shivered. She was soaked through, and all her strength had left her. She'd never felt so vulnerable, so weak, so alone. Another sob escaped her lips, and she stopped in the middle of the pavement, suddenly reluctant to take another step, although her apartment was now just a couple of blocks away. She leaned back against the cold stone wall of the building next to her, and covered her face with her hands.

Roxanne tried to process what she was feeling.

She was angry at him. Oh, she was _so angry_ at him. And yet, she struggled to even remember what Bernard looked like any more. In vain, she fought to bring the memory of his face to mind – but no. All she could remember were those eyes. Those vibrant emerald eyes that were so full of life, and tonight, so full of fear and regret.

His blue face had always been such an object of contempt and mockery for her. She was Roxanne Ritchi! Metro City's top reporter, and centre stage actress in the classic superhero-villain drama. She practically made a living out of breaking all the rules as damsel in distress, sparring with by far the most pathetic villain in history, bringing him down to size.

But that was before she'd seen what Megamind could be when the label of "evil" wasn't constantly trailing after him. When she'd seen what had always been in front of her. Of course, nothing she'd seen in Megamind now was new. That personality that she'd been so drawn to was always on display.

It was there in his infuriating tenacity when he conducted an evil plot.

It was there when he'd been so distraught to be seen as predictable.

It was there in the back and forth banter that was as much a part of the excitement in her life as Metro Man's heroic rescues.

But she'd never seen it, because she'd been so blinded by her own prejudice.

Only, out of all the evil things Megamind had done, he'd now topped them all with this crushingly personal assault.

How was it possible to hate, and love him so much?

Roxanne screamed in confusion, and her fist shot out to punch the wall. The stone connected with her knuckles, and she yelped with pain, pulling her hand up to examine the damage. Her fist was stinging and bleeding, and she pressed her eyes shut, another few tears escaping.

At that moment, a car drove past, the spray smacking Roxanne in the face. "Aaghh!" she spat, recoiling in misery. She wrung her uninjured hand in disgust and pushed away from the building, decisively putting one heeled foot in front of the other to continue the trek home. With her scowl trained on the shining pavement, she didn't see, and barely heard the car's purr quiet to a halt several paces ahead of her. Roxanne cradled her throbbing hand to her chest, vaguely registering the muted slam of a door up ahead, as a male voice called out to her.

"Hey, Roxanne, is that you?"

Roxanne finally looked up to see a tall, stocky figure make his way over to her. She blinked in confusion before realising it was her neighbour from the apartment below, a pleasant, phlegmatic man named Derek Jones.

Then she realised how she must look right now, and dropped her gaze in mild embarrassment.

"Yeah," she spoke quietly, her voice strained. "It's me."

"What are you doing out so late in this weather?" he broke into a jog, brushing a hand across his sparse head of hair in bewilderment. Then he noticed her dress, tear-streaked face, and the way she was clutching her hand to her chest.

His expression shifted to one of alarm. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Roxanne was at a loss. What could she possible say that would sound remotely convincing? Not that the truth was any more convincing. _I just found out I'm dating a supervillain, and I kissed him, then dumped him, and possibly broke my hand in the bargain._ That would most definitely get her committed.

So she just said miserably, "Not the best day of my life." Her voice cracked, and she dropped her head.

The next moment, she felt a hand slide across her racking shoulder blades, and she realised how cold she really was. She felt her teeth begin to chatter.

"Come on," Derek said as he guided her towards his car. "I'll give you a lift home."

Roxanne quickly shook her head, and tried to move out of his grasp. "No. Thank you, but I'm fine."

"No, you aren't," Derek surprised her by saying. Normally he wasn't so direct. Evidently, concern for her was trumping his usual tendencies, much to her chagrin. "You're freezing."

Roxanne sighed. It was true. She felt like her limbs would fall off one by one. And her feet were killing her from all that walking in these heels.

She still wanted to refuse, but she found herself answering, "Ok, thanks."

She shuffled along beside him – her feet really _did_ hurt – and slid ungracefully into the leather car seat when he opened the door for her. After fumbling for the belt, she curled over herself, one hand lying limply in her lap, the other picking compulsively at the hem of her dress. Goosebumps covered her legs, and she sought to soak up the warmth of the car as Derek turned the ignition and pulled away from the kerb.

Silence flooded the car as they drove the final two blocks to her apartment building. Exhaustion settled over Roxanne like a heavy blanket, and her body drooped further until they pulled up outside of the building. Derek glanced over at her, cutting the engine.

He said nothing for several seconds, drumming his fingers awkwardly against the steering wheel. Twice, he opened his mouth, as though about to say something, only to snap it shut again. Nervously, he ran his hand across his head, and spoke.

"Are you sure there isn't anything more I can do for you, Miss Ritchi?"

Roxanne looked up at him. "No," she replied, dejectedly. "But thanks for the lift."

Derek nodded stiffly, then opened the door, quietly rounding the car to open hers.

Roxanne stepped out into the pelting rain. It slid down her back and neck like ice, causing her to shiver hard at having to leave the warm haven of the car once more.

She allowed Derek to walk her to her door, smiling at him briefly in thanks as he left.

Sighing, she pushed open her door, and shut it, leaning back against the wood.

She was drained. Idly, she held up her injured hand before her; it didn't look good. The blood was crusting on her hand, and it looked puffier than usual. She would need to get that wrapped, and possibly checked out.

Roxanne kicked off her heels, not caring where they landed, and moved like lead toward her kitchen. Another round of tears came as she attempted to root around in her cupboard one-handed for some gauze. This was brilliant. Injured hand, hollow feeling in her chest, possibly even inching towards hypothermia if she didn't get changed out of her dress soon – and she wanted so _badly_ for Megamind to show up on her balcony like he'd done so many times during kidnappings. She just wanted him to be here.

Belatedly, Roxanne realised that it didn't matter what he'd done – how he'd lied to her.

She just wanted him to be here.

 **A/N: And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this little one shot. I mentioned that this story is ever so slightly AU – because I think we would have noticed if Roxanne seriously injured her hand in the movie.**


End file.
